


Family

by Illiteracy_is_for_woozles



Series: The Future Is History [22]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Brother Feels, Brotherhood, Brotherly Bonding, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Clint Barton-centric, Dysfunctional Family, Family, Family History, Family Reunions, Feels, Forgiveness, Gen, POV Clint Barton, Short, Sibling Love, Siblings, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 10:50:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18092897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illiteracy_is_for_woozles/pseuds/Illiteracy_is_for_woozles
Summary: Clint receives a visitor.





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> A little shorter than usual, but I love it.
> 
> I realized that I never said that I'm not working with much of the MCU version of Clint, but I'm not. I grew up on the 70's/80's Clint Barton because the only comics I could afford were the ones in collections at the library, so that's what I'm working off of plus a little of the ones that were published post-Avengers movie because that man is a mess of a human and he's so relatable.
> 
> Note: Barney is definitely OOC here, but this family deserves to get alone for once. Deal with it.

Retirement was weird.

It certainly wasn’t boring, but it was weird.

Clint had been working for someone since he was thirteen years old; first it was the circus, then it was different mercenary organizations, before he joined the army and was eventually recruited for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Barney hadn’t wanted out of the mercenary business, though. The blow-up had been huge when Clint had wound up on the opposite side of his big brother.

They hadn’t spoken in years, not since Clint had put an arrow through Barney’s shoulder and he’d gotten a bullet graze over his ear before falling out a window.

So, it was a shock for sure when he answered a knock on the door, expecting Francis to have forgotten his key again, but seeing his brother’s familiar smirk instead.

“Long time no see.”

“What are you doing here?”

Barney rolled his eyes.

“Can’t I just come by to visit my only family?”

Clint just blinked as his brother slid between him and the door jamb, entering the apartment and looking around.

“And imagine my surprise when I’m sitting in a bar in Baghdad and hear about the Avengers having a bunch of kids,  _ including _ a nephew I knew nothing about.”

Clint shut the door with a sigh.

“I didn’t tell you because it wasn’t any of your business.”

Barney crossed his arms and dropped the smile.

“It’s not my business to care about family?”

Clint scoffed.

“You’re really going to pull that crap? Now?”

Barney threw his hands up.

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to go straight. I never thought I’d end up being the bad guy.”

“Then why’d you shoot me?” Clint yelled.

“I grazed you! If I didn’t, my bosses would’ve had my head.”

Clint ran a hand through his hair.

“You ever think that maybe that was one of the reasons I wanted out?

Barney scuffed his boot against the worn carpet and sighed, jamming his hands in his pockets.

“Look, I get it. I’m sorry.”

Clint eyed him for a moment, unsure of his sincerity.

“Yeah, me, too.”

They lapsed into silence. Clint didn’t know what to say and he was pretty sure Barney didn’t have a clue either. Neither of them had really been much for words growing up.

“So.” The elder Barton cleared his throat. “Wanna catch me up on what I’ve missed?”

Clint huffed out a shallow laugh and gestured to the couch.

And he told him the whole story (leaving out a few details) about S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, Francis.

“I wish I could’ve been there,” Barney admitted when Clint finished. “You didn’t deserve to go through all that alone.”

The corner of Clint’s mouth turned up in a sad smile.

“I was at first,” he admitted. “But the Avengers are more of a slightly dysfunctional family than a team and we’ve got each other’s backs.”

Barney squinted.

“I thought you were off the team.”

He shrugged.

“Just because I’m retired doesn’t mean I’m off the team. That’s like disowning family with us.”

Barney gave a small smile.

“Not something you do, huh?”

Clint matched his expression.

“Nah, that’s not our style.”

The front door opened, the scent of smoke thick and filling the apartment.

Francis stumbled through. He’d obviously tried to clean up, but there was still ash and grime around his hairline and he had a bandage up the side of his neck and another reaching from his wrist and disappearing past his sleeve just below his elbow.

“Uh,” he said when he saw their visitor. “Hey.”

“Hang on a second. Forget about him.” Clint stood and waved away Barney, stepping closer to his kid. “You wanna tell me what happened to make you look like you were caught in a house fire?”

When he was only a few feet away, Clint caught the unmistakable scents of burn cream and lidocaine.

Francis rubbed at the back of his neck, embarrassment flooding his cheeks.

“I was, uh, showing off during training and ran right into Sarah while she was on fire.”

Barney started cackling.

“Oh, man, that reminds me of the time you nearly burned down the whole circus flirting with the juggler while she was rehearsing.”

Clint slowly turned his head to his brother his deadliest possible glare, promising to pay him back for that later, while Francis joined in the laughter.

_ Ugh, family’s overrated _ .

**Author's Note:**

> Francis is 19 here and is one of the new Avengers. He's sticking around, kicking butt and taking names, because somebody's gotta do it and it gives him a purpose.


End file.
